


crown on my head but the world on my shoulder

by zaplarry



Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Eleanor and Sophia as Matchmakers yes bitch, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-25
Updated: 2015-07-25
Packaged: 2018-04-11 02:19:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4417280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaplarry/pseuds/zaplarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are best friends who are secretly pining over each other. Harry knows Louis has a girlfriend, Eleanor, and he doesn't want to get in the way of his relationship by telling Louis how he feels. So he doesn't. Louis knows Harry is bisexual and is way more into girls than into boys. He has no chance. So he keeps quiet. He doesn't have the heart to tell Harry that Eleanor isn't really his girlfriend either. So he doesn't. </p><p> </p><p>Or the one where Louis is dumb and in love and Eleanor and Sophia are matchmakers (and are also in love but that's besides the point)</p>
            </blockquote>





	crown on my head but the world on my shoulder

It seemed so childish when she really thought about it. But of course, she would do anything to help out a friend she's known since her early years. Louis came to her in a time of need, he expected her to help him. So that's just what she did. 

"El, what shirt do you think I should wear that won't make me look gay?" Louis asked Eleanor as he walked into her bedroom, holding up two both equally hideous shirts in front of his chest.

"Babe, calm down. You can dress however you want as long as you have me and I'm telling you personally to throw those pieces of shit in the fireplace." She said, taking a sip of her mug and setting it on the bedside table.

"Do you really think they're that ugly?" Louis asked, with an anxious look on his face.

"I really do. Wear something you want to wear. You have a nice wardrobe. I like your gay clothes." Eleanor got up, taking the two shirts away from him and giving him a hug.

"I'm just not ready to be gay yet." Louis said, accepting her hug with furrowed brows and a defeated feeling boiling up in his stomach.

"Louis, that's who you are. Clothes don't define your sexuality. Nothing defines your sexuality but you. There's nothing wrong with being gay, you know that. " She rubbed Louis' back, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. It wasn't uncommon that they'd have nights like that. Eleanor usually cheered him up with ice cream and horror movies. Louis loved yelling at the stupid girls who opened the door when clearly they shouldn't have. Eleanor had been Louis' closest friend for as long as he could remember. Eleanor really cared about Louis, really wanted him to be happy and to watch him succeed. She wanted him to be confident in himself and his abilities. She offered help when he needed it, of course, when he was really vulnerable and obviously desperate. If she was being honest though, she hated pretending to be Louis' girlfriend. Solely because Louis hadn't gained a shred of the confidence she'd estimated him to have at this point in his life. Louis hated that he needed to have a girlfriend just as much as Eleanor hated being said girlfriend. They 'dated' all throughout their high school years because he was too scared to come out, and still is, long since graduation. Eleanor hated how sad Louis got while he talked about boys and somehow those conversations always led to Harry. She hated that he was so afraid of being himself and that he was essentially running away from who he was. She hated that Harry did this to him, but there were never any hard feelings. Harry drove Louis crazy in good ways and bad and Eleanor knew how gone Louis was for him since they were in school. Pretending to be together had only dug them into a deeper hole as Louis had become too comfortable hiding who he was and now he was more afraid to come out than ever before. 

Harry had always liked Eleanor, thought she was bloody perfect for Louis, or so he said. Eleanor could always tell when Harry wasn't being honest with Louis when she hung around them, could see right through him. She pretended that she didn't know more than she should because she didn't want to push or assume anything because maybe he just longed for a relationship himself, God knows she did. She always had a feeling Harry liked Louis but she never got enough nerve to actually confront him about it. She felt bad about it, not wanting to waste time with this whole 'helping Louis push himself further and further into the closet so that he could possibly start to see Narnia sometime soon' if Harry liked him back, which is what Louis wanted. It's what Eleanor wanted, but she couldn't be sure. 

Take them to present day, they were in their early twenties. Louis was becoming happier as a person and he was simply just letting go. He wasn't emotionally ready to come out yet by any means, but he was getting there. He wasn't panicking about every little thing and constantly asking Eleanor if he looked gay in the shirt he was wearing. He just got used to telling people Eleanor was his girlfriend and so after high school (which was the only time they planned to pretend they were together, was in high school), he just continued to tell people him and Eleanor were dating.

Louis regularly caught up on social media with people he went to high school with who would always say things like 'you're still with Eleanor? Wow! Wish I could hold a relationship that long. You must be meant for each other" and other things like "I wish I could have a perfect relationship like you do" and Louis wouldn't reply. Despite all the internal battles Louis faced and the mental and emotional struggles he went through, especially because of Harry, he and Harry had remained close friends the whole time. When Harry started hanging out with some girl, Louis was heartbroken and the only thing he wanted to do was crawl into a hole and stay there. Louis then learned that Sophia was Harry's mate's girlfriend and her and Harry were only friends, that made Louis happy. Louis accepted her into the friendship group and so did Eleanor.

Eleanor and Sophia began doing everything together and became really close. Eleanor even got to know Liam a little better because of it. Louis had only met Liam once or twice but he was okay with that. He only had time for Harry. Since Eleanor was being occupied by Sophia and Liam most of the time, Louis had more time to think and no one to talk to because the only other friend he had was Harry, and Harry was the reason why Louis was so fucked up. Louis became distant and Harry always tried to confront him, only to get dismissed with a shrug of Louis' shoulders.

"Louis, are you okay?" Harry would ask shyly, not wanting to upset or provoke him. 

"I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind lately." Louis would say. 

"Anything you'd like to share? Anything I could help with?" Harry would say, knowing he'd probably get nowhere in this endeavor. 

"Can't." Was all Louis would say and Harry would leave it at that. 

Harry was getting a little bit sick of it. He wanted to know what his best friend was hiding from him, if he could even call them best friends anymore. Louis bluntly making himself distant from Harry only pained Harry even more. Even when Louis couldn't be with his girlfriend and the only other person he had was Harry, he wouldn't talk to Harry. 

Meanwhile, Harry was pouring his heart out to Sophia, Louis doing the same with Eleanor. The two boys were madly in love but oblivious to each other's feelings. Sophia mentioned it to Eleanor at brunch with her and Max and that made Eleanor perk up, Max obliviously tapping away on his phone. The conversation became deeper and Eleanor told her everything, how Louis wasn't her real boyfriend and he was proper gone for Harry, only for Sophia to say something similar about Harry and how he was gone for Louis as well. That's when the two girls became excited and hatched a plan to get Harry and Louis to confess their love for one another.

"Lou, I've been thinking..." El muttered, back towards Louis with a smirk lacing her lips. "I think we need to stop this whole 'dating' thing because you're a grown man now. You should face your fear of having to talk to Harry. You need to tell him sometime." Eleanor turned to face him.

"No! We can't break up and I'm not telling Harry, I'll get rejected." Louis cried out, plopping on his stomach on Eleanor's bed.

"Don't say that. Come on, you'll never know if you don't try. You can't keep living like this. What are you so afraid of?" Eleanor sat on the bed, a hand on Louis' back.

"Oh, nothing much. Just afraid of losing my best friend!" He flipped himself over to lay on his back and groaned and sighed at the ceiling, coming to the realization that yes, this was his life.

"Distancing yourself from him isn't gonna help either, Louis! He's heartbroken. Just talk to him. You don't even have to tell him yet just ask him how his day was or something. Stop being so awkward. You're making it much more difficult for yourself." Louis sat up shyly. He knew Eleanor was right, that he was just being stupid.

"I know, but..." Louis didn't know what else to say. He didn't have a valid reason to back up the way he was acting. 

"Lou, you have to do this. For yourself and for me. I'll help you. I'm always here for you, you know that. I'm gonna drive you to his house and leave right after I've dropped you off. You can say we had a huge fight and broke up, okay? You're gonna stay the night at his house." Eleanor said, looking straight into his confused eyes. 

"What even? Did you plan this all out?" Eleanor nodded mischievously, patting his thigh. If only he knew. 

"You can do this, Louis. I'm gonna help you get your man."

"How can you be sure this will work?" 

"Because I'm your best friend and I know these things." Louis still wasn't confident with this plan, but it's not like Eleanor was giving him a choice here.

 

* * *

"I don't know what to do. I'm shaking. I'm so nervous." Louis said, panicky. He lifted his frantically shaking hand to show Eleanor. 

"Calm down, Louis. It's gonna be okay. You can do this." Louis nodded, slowly getting out of the car as Eleanor drove off. Louis felt alone and his anxiety was building up, but he had to do this. Eleanor was right. He couldn't waste his life being scared about something so stupid. He nervously walked up to Harry's door, swallowing the lump in his throat. Harry opened the door, wide-eyed.

"Louis? What are you doing here so late? What are you doing here at all?" It wasn't supposed to sound rude. Harry didn't mean for it to sound rude. He was just shocked. Louis hadn't been to this house for ages.

"I-I'm sorry, Harry. I've been terrible and dumb for the longest time and I don't deserve you." Louis mentally kicked himself for stuttering.

"No you haven't, Lou. Come in." Harry hurriedly followed Louis into the living room, smiling from ear to ear. It was crazy how much Louis remembered this place before he moved in with Eleanor, how it's barely changed since he left.

"So what's up, Lou? Why'd you come? Not that you're not welcome, it's just..." Harry trailed off, suddenly feeling awkward. 

"Eleanor and I broke up. We had a big fight and I can't believe it took this happening for me to realize how much of an asshole I've been." Louis said calmly, trying to look like he was genuinely hurting.

"Oh my god, Lou. I'm so sorry. You guys were together for so long, I can't believe this. I thought you were gonna get married." Harry pulled Louis in for a hug and tried to act like he was upset for him. On the inside, Harry was throwing a party but that was besides the point. Louis chose to ignore the last two statements.

"I've been ignoring you and I can't believe how dumb I was. You're my best friend and I need you most and I know you need me. I haven't been there for you and I feel so awful. I've just been caught up in everything." Louis was telling the truth, just not all of it. 

"Louis, honestly it's okay. Don't worry. You're here now." Harry caressed Louis' cheek and slid himself onto Louis' lap before hugging him more intimately. Harry knew that it practically screamed homosexual, but he didn't care. Louis was here now. 

"I love you." The words were out before Louis could stop himself and he hugged Harry tighter. 

"Love you too, mate." Mate. Mate. Mate. That's all Louis was to Harry. A friend. The feeling of rejection choked Louis. 

Harry was quite literally in Louis' lap yet he very brutally friend-zoned him. Louis sighed, lightly pushing Harry off of him. A flush creeping up his neck. 

"What's wrong?" Harry asked all flustered-like, worried he'd freaked Louis out with the level of intimacy. 

"Well, I don't have a place to stay. I feel so bad asking you for this but..." Harry just broke out in a laughing fit.

"Don't feel bad. You're always welcome here, babe." Louis blushed at the pet name even though they used to call each other that constantly. And Louis could tell you it was so much better than 'mate'. 

"Thank you so much, Harry. Really, I don't think I deserve this, but thank you." Louis' face broke out into a grin as he lunged at Harry, hugging him once more. When they pulled away, they were only inches from each other's faces. Their smiles slowly faded at the realization of the position they were in. Harry bit his lip, sucking in Louis' breath. Then, Harry's phone rang and they lunged apart so fast they probably could have gotten whiplash. 

"Hello?" Harry asked as he stepped into the kitchen. 

"Hey, it's Sophia." Sophia's darling voice spoke through the phone. 

"Hey Soph, I can't talk right now. I've got Louis over." Sophia fake-gasped, but Harry was stupid enough to believe it.

"Have you finally told him?!" She shouted, excitedly. Eleanor giggling by her side and placing an innocent hand on Sophia's leg. Sophia felt butterflies from where Eleanor had touched her. She smiled at Eleanor sweetly and rolled her eyes as Harry yelled at her, causing Eleanor to giggle and lay her head on the back of the couch, fondly listening to the conversation between Sophia and Harry. 

Are you crazy? Why would I do that?" Harry was dumbfounded.

"You gonna fuck him?" This statement made Eleanor bark out a laugh to which Sophia quickly covered her mouth which sparked something within Eleanor's body. Maybe it was because she had been single since bloody high school. She didn't know, but she liked it.

"Sophia, what the actual fuck?! You're fucking insane. Why don't you go fuck Liam and butt out, yeah?" Sophia giggled and Eleanor frowned as she heard what Harry said, or rather yelled, but she smiled again. Eleanor was unreadable for a split second and it didn't go unnoticed by Sophia. 

"Hmm, don't mind if I do. But if you don't tell me all about you and Louis tomorrow morning, I will skin you alive." Sophia said with a smirk, still trying to figure out what changed in Eleanor, but trying not to think about it too hard. 

"Nothing's happened, Soph. He pushed me off of his lap when I hugged him." Harry chose not to tell her about their almost kiss. 

"You sat on his lap? The hell?" Eleanor chuckled and Sophia's smirk grew wider. 

"Yes, shh! He's in the other room and you're so loud." Harry was panicking and it was all Sophia's fault. 

"You probably just misunderstood, Harry. You tend to do that." Sophia stated, making an effort to give Harry a hint that she knows Louis would jump his bones if he was confident enough. Of course, Harry didn't get that. 

"Why would you skin me alive?" Harry said, bringing back an earlier part of their conversation. 

"I will do it." And Harry definitely believed her. 

"He doesn't like me like that, babes. We were so close to kissing and he pulled away." Eleanor got off the couch and started dancing like a dork when she heard Harry say that he and Louis almost kissed. 

"Maybe he's nervous." Sophia said, trying to pay attention to Harry and not let Eleanor's cute dancing take up her mind. 

"Or maybe he doesn't like me." Harry was stubborn and Sophia hated it, hated being around him when he was like this. 

"Oh, hush. I swear he fancies you big time! Do you not see the way he looks at you? A beautiful thing to witness to be honest." Eleanor's grin couldn't be missed from a mile away. What if she's right?, Harry thinks. 

"Really?" Harry didn't really know what else to say.

"Yeah, so I want you to flirt it up and get him in bed tonight." Sophia winked at Eleanor who was wide-eyed and looked like a pretty deer if you asked Sophia. 

"I'll flirt!" Harry said. And only that. 

"And get him in be-" Sophia began, only for Harry to cut her off. 

"Good bye, Sophia." Harry prodded the hang up button violently until his phone actually stopped the call. He went back into the living room where Louis had fallen asleep. Harry smiled at the adorable sight. He picked his tiny best friend up in his muscular arms and took him upstairs into their bedroom. Louis did have his own bedroom, but they always chose to sleep together instead when they lived together. 

Harry plopped himself down on the bed next to Louis' sleeping body, wrapping his arms around the older boy and pulling him close. 

"I wish you'd understand how much I love you, how much it hurt me to see you with Eleanor. It hurt so fucking bad, Louis. I-I can't even explain it. I wanted you to be happy and you were so so happy so I didn't say anything. Eleanor is so pretty and nice and I didn't want to ruin your relationship with her. I didn't tell you what I really felt because I was so scared and couldn't find the words to say what I wanted to say. And whenever I could find the words, I was so bloody nervous and I could never do it. I could never look at you and your perfect smile and tell you I loved you, knowing you'd be cross at me. I just wanted you to smile and be happy. That's all I want and I refused to be the one to rip that smile off your face by ruining everything. It seems so easy to tell you now, knowing you can't hear me." Harry muttered to Louis' sleeping face, caressing it softly in his hands. Harry turned himself around, back facing Louis and reached for Louis' arm to put around himself. Harry was the little spoon, always had been.

"Do you really mean that, Harry?" Harry's eyes shot open and he froze. Louis noticed how tense he was and kissed his shoulders. "Relax. I love you so much, Harry. You don't even know. Everything you said, I felt the exact same about you. I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I thought you liked girls way more than boys. Didn't think I had a chance. I guess I should also tell you I never dated Eleanor. She was helping me look straight because I wasn't ready to be gay in high school and it just carried on out of high school because I didn't want a boy if I couldn't have you." Harry turned to Louis, face flushed pink. Harry was feeling too many emotions at once and it was fucking with his mind.

"You mean to tell me that I was miserable about you and Eleanor for no fucking reason?! What the fuck?! Louis, I was hurting so bad. I cried so much because of that." Louis became nervous because should he really have told Harry that? Yes, he should've. But he just wanted everything to be happy now. He didn't want Harry to be upset because of this.

"I know, babe. I've gone through a lot emotionally as well. I had no idea you even liked me. I was stupid, I know. But you know the truth now. Please don't hate me because I'm so fucking in love with you." Louis took Harry's hands and peppered them in kisses, praying Harry would forgive him. 

"I love you too, Louis." Louis felt it was appropriate to kiss Harry right then. So he did. 

"I love you so fucking much. Thought I never had a chance with you. Look at us now." Harry's smile was bright and pretty and on Louis' mouth and Louis loved it. Louis pulled Harry on top of him and the kiss became deeper. Harry sighed in Louis' mouth, resting his head on Louis' chest. Louis ran his fingers through Harry's locks which earned him another kiss. Louis couldn't have been happier if he tried. This was what he was waiting for and it felt amazing to finally have it. Louis and Harry spent the rest of the night kissing and cuddling away.

 

* * *

Sophia tossed her phone on the couch.

"Bitch hung up on me." Eleanor laughed, placing a hand on Sophia's thigh. Sophia felt daring and with a smirk, guided Eleanor's hand to the front of her panties. Eleanor gasped when she realized what was happening, but that soon got drowned out by lust. Eleanor pulled Sophia's legs so she was laying flat on her back and pulled down her panties. Liam hadn't got home yet so Sophia figured why the hell not? Eleanor's tongue worked Sophia open expertly. 

"Fuck, El." Eleanor thrusted a finger or two into Sophia while flicking her tongue over Sophia's clit. Sophia's noises were obscene and Eleanor was getting wet because of it.

"Having fun, girls?" Eleanor's head shot up to see Liam smirking in the door way. 

"Liam, I-" Sophia tried only for Liam to shush her. Liam pressed a finger to Sophia's lips, kissing her roughly and shoving Eleanor's face in Sophia's crotch. Liam undressed quickly, pushing the back of Eleanor's dress up and pushing the string of her thong out of his way. He thrusted into her with no warning. Eleanor cried out only to get his face shoved back into Sophia's crotch. Eleanor licked Sophia's pussy frantically with Sophia whimpering and clutching her own chest. 

"Shut up, slut. You wanna fuck other peoples' girls, this is what you get." Liam finished way too quickly for Eleanor and Sophia's liking. He pulled out and came on Eleanor's lower back and felt ashamed right as he did it. He shuffled to get his clothes on, realizing what he just did. Eleanor was breathing heavily, her head resting on Sophia's tummy. Liam looked away. 

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know what I was doing." Liam explained, knowing that it was no excuse but he could at least try.

"That was so hot." Sophia said, sorting out Eleanor's hair. Liam chuckled, but he still felt awful. The girls got up, holding hands. Eleanor groped him as they walked past. Liam could feel his cock fattening up again, chasing after them as they walked upstairs.

Louis had Harry. Eleanor had Sophia (and Liam, but she doesn't mind). 

Everything would be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I don't know what that threesome was...I was in an interesting mood I guess lmaooo


End file.
